Getting Started with Zoom

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The University of Pittsburgh’s standard Zoom environment is not HIPAA compliant. However, the University provides access to a separate HIPAA-compliant Zoom environment for those who are conducting tele-medicine appointments or are hosting meetings that discuss protected health information.

To use Zoom for HIPAA-related meetings, please see the Zoom and HIPAA Compliance page.

From the Zoom Desktop Client

1. If you have not yet done so, download the Zoom desktop client.

2. Launch the desktop client and click Schedule.

3. Enter the meeting details and click Schedule.

4. Copy the URL or meeting invitation to send to participants, or add it to your calendar with the available plugin.

From the Zoom Web Portal

1. Log in to pitt.zoom.us, click Sign in, and log in with your University username and password.

2. Click Meetings in the left-hand column, then click Schedule a New Meeting.

3. Enter the meeting details and click Save.

4. Copy the URL or meeting invitation to send to participants, or add it to your calendar with the available plugin.

From Outlook

To schedule meetings from Outlook, you first need to install the Microsoft Add-In for Zoom using the steps below. 

1. Open Outlook and click Get Add-Ins. 

Windows: 

Mac with Old Outlook:

Mac with New Outlook:

2. In the Search Add-ins field at top right, type Zoom for Outlook, then press Enter.

3. In the search results, find the Zoom for Outlook add-in (make sure it has this exact title), click Add, then click Continue. 

4. After the add-in has been installed, you can access it from a meeting window in Outlook. Start a new meeting request, then click Add a Zoom Meeting from your Outlook toolbar.

Windows and Mac with Old Outlook:

Mac with New Outlook:

Click the New Event button.  
Then in the New Event window, click […] and select Zoom -> Add a Zoom Meeting.

5. You will need to sign in to the Add-In. Click Sign in with SSO near the bottom of the login screen. Enter pitt in the domain field and click Continue, then sign in via Pitt Passport.  

6. Proceed with scheduling your meeting. 

Note: If you have the older Zoom Plugin for Outlook installed, you should remove it because it is no longer supported. The old Zoom plugin looks like this in your Outlook toolbar. 

To remove it, click File, then Options, then Add-Ins, and then select COM Add-ins from the Manage drop-down menu. Select ONLY the Zoom Outlook Plugin (make sure to deselect all other plugins that you do not wish to uninstall) and click Remove. 

From Canvas

• Review the University Center for Teaching and Learning's step-by-step instructions 

Scheduling Meetings on Behalf of Someone Else with Scheduling Privilege

You may have an assistant that already schedules meetings on your behalf through Outlook. You can also enable your assistant to schedule Zoom meetings on your behalf. They can schedule meetings using the Zoom desktop client, web portal, or Outlook Plugin. Once you have scheduled a meeting for someone, they can start the meeting without you needing to be present.  

• Set up scheduling privilege to allow someone else to schedule your Zoom meetings
• Schedule meetings via the Zoom desktop client or web portal 
• Schedule meetings via the Zoom Outlook Plugin
• Transfer meetings to someone else

Starting Meetings on Behalf of Someone Else

Designating an alternative host allows someone else at Pitt to start your Zoom meeting if you are unable to do so. When you designate someone as an alternative host, they’ll receive an email confirmation that contains a link they can use to start the meeting. 

Zoombombing refers to an unwanted, disruptive intrusion into a Zoom videoconference. In a typical Zoombombing incident, trolls or hackers might disrupt a meeting by inserting material that is lewd, obscene, racist, or antisemitic in nature.

Preventing Zoombombing

Refer to our Zoom Meetings: Etiquette and Best Practices page for guidance and tips to deter Zoombombing.

More information for securing your meetings can be found in the Zoom Security Guide.

Reporting Zoombombing

If you experience a Zoombombing incident, please work with the meeting host to report it. Note that only meeting hosts can report incidents using the options below.

During a meeting

Complete the following steps to report an incident during a meeting. Your report will be sent directly to Zoom.

1. As the meeting host, click the Security icon in your meeting toolbar and select Report.

2.Select the name of the participant you would like to report and select the reason for reporting this participant. You also have the option to add comments, photos, or screenshots of the incident.

3. Click Send.

After a meeting

To submit a report of violations of Zoom’s Terms of Service or Acceptable Use Guidelines, please submit your report by completing the web form available at https://zoom.us/trust-form. Please include specific details about the meeting disruption in your report such as how the intruder(s) violated our Terms of Service and if there was a certain type of abusive content that was shared by the offender(s) (via chat, audio, or video). Meeting hosts can also complete the University's Report a Zoombombing form. The report will be sent to Zoom, Pitt Digital Security, and Office of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion.

Hosts may designate a meeting attendee to provide live captioning. The captioner types text into a field and presses Enter to display that text for any meeting attendee who has chosen to view closed captions. Captioning may or may not be Section 508 compliant. Learn more...

By default, all meetings recorded to the Zoom cloud have their audio transcribed. Audio transcripts are not available in real time, but they can be viewed during playback of the recorded meeting. Meeting hosts can edit transcripts as needed. Please note that audio transcripts are not Section 508 compliant. Learn more...

This captioning feature uses artificial intelligence to display what the speaker is saying as text at the bottom of the meeting video. This feature is designed to improve overall user accessibility of Zoom meetings and webinars and can be enabled by the host.  Any participants can view the captioning as needed.  Learn more...

Note: Breakout rooms and the Zoom HIPAA environment do not currently support the use of Automated Captions.

Automated captions is available in multiple languages, and it is recommended that you speak clearly for best results. The accuracy of Zoom’s automated captions feature depends on many variables, such as background noise, volume and clarity of the speaker’s voice, the speaker's proficiency with the English language, etc.

1. To activate the Automated Captions as a host, locate the Show captions button in meeting controls, then choose the spoken language.  Once enabled, the Show captions button will change to Hide captions.

If you do not see the Show captions button, click the More button and then select Captions. 

2. To view or hide the visibility of the transcript in the sidebar, click the arrow to the right of the Hide captions button, then select View full transcript.

3. To hide or view subtitles displayed over the video, click the Hide captions button.

4. To save the transcript, click the Save transcript button at the bottom of the Full transcript window.